European airports have had a difficult start to 2019, with the freight sector feeling the brunt of the slowdown, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.
In the first half of 2019, freight traffic fell by 3.5% compared to 3.3% growth in the same period of 2018, and the outlook is not good.
June was down 7.1% with airports inside and outside the European Union all struggling, down 7.3% for the former and 6% for the latter.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe says: “The slump in freight traffic is where it really bites at the moment. And it is not getting any better, with June registering a drop of -7.1% – the worst monthly performance in more than seven years. This does not bode well for the months ahead, especially as passenger traffic usually does not remain totally isolated from trends in freight traffic.”
Of the top airports, only Liege Airport registered first half growth, up 6.5% to 437,682 tonnes.
Europe’s top cargo airports all saw volumes falling to various levels, with Frankfurt down 2.5% to one million tonnes, Paris Charles de Gaulle by 1.9% to 946,129 tonnes, London Heathrow by 4.2% to 805,953 tonnes and Amsterdam Schiphol by 8.6% to 767,492 tonnes.
June was a difficult month for the big four, with Frankfurt down 4.8% to 165,169 tonnes, Paris by 6.5% to 159,302 tonnes, Heathrow by 6.1% to 130,858 tonnes and Schiphol by 13.7% to 123,888 tonnes.
